Ellen learned to draw at an early age from her father, illustrator and fine artist, James Menzel-Joseph.   Her family tree also includes Henri Fantin-Latour, colleague of the French Impressionists, and Adolph Menzel, one of Germany's most acclaimed painters of the 19th century.

After completing formal training at the American Academy of Art in Chicago, where her father was a professor, she moved to Findhorn, a community in northern Scotland, where she worked as a resident artist.  During her five-year stay in Scotland, she had exhibits on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh and at the Royal Exchange in London. Ellen also spent several years in Hawaii and in the countryside near Paris, exhibiting her work and painting outside in the practice of the Impressionists.

From 1997 to 2010, Ellen produced dramatic murals and paintings for commercial and residential clients in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond, through her mural business, "Rooms with a View".

In 2011, Ellen opened the Ellen Joseph Gallery & Studio at 840 Main Street in Half Moon Bay, California as a venue to create and display her paintings. In February of 2014, Ellen moved her gallery to 521 Main Street in the heart of Half Moon Bay and gave it a new name. The Colors of the Coast Gallery & Gift Shop featured Ellen's paintings of the coast, as well as giclee reproductions on canvas and paper. In March of 2016, Ellen moved the gallery into her studio in Shoreline Station, 3 blocks from the Main Street location. The gallery won "Favorite Art Gallery" in the 2012 through 2016 Half Moon Bay Review Readers Choice Awards, and Ellen won "Favorite Local Artist" from 2012 through 2016 except for 2nd Place in 2015.

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In 2018 Ellen began teaching painting classes in her studio and outside at the beaches of Half Moon Bay. She also closed her gallery in Shoreline Station in May of 2018. Ellen has been selling her work through local galleries and businesses. She continues to teach painting at various locations on the coast.

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